One of the most debilitating, bothersome and time-stealing problems for riders is low back pain. Many back experts report that low back pain is the fifth most common reason for all physician visits in the United States. Contrary to what many people think – low back pain is also reported to be the most frequent activity limitation in people younger than 45 years old.1, 2, 3

Spring has finally sprung in most parts of the US! I hope this means that more and more of you are on your horses.

My year is off to a fast start. Many of you know that I had a baby in January and thus I did not write a February newsletter. Sorry to have missed all of you in February during my maternity leave. I look forward to keeping in contact with all of you this year.

One thing is for sure – we love our horses. We spend countless hours taking the best care of them and often leave less time to take care of our own health and fitness. Fitness for the polo player must do two main jobs. It must improve performance and it must decrease the chance for injury.

Cross training for riders is a relatively new idea in the horse world. This article form the May 2008 issue of Horse Illustrated discusses the importance of cross training for riders and how it dramatically improves riding skill and endurance.

Every rider searches for that ideal moment when everything comes together and horse and rider are moving in perfect coordination and balance. It is a magical place to be and it starts in the “sweet spot” on your horse’s back.

The best dressage riders have a simple but important gift or skill: They have learned how to use their attention to notice the subtleties of movements between horse and rider. Proper use of this type of awareness makes every transition a little easier, a little more consistent and a little more fluid. Focusing attention well is one of the most important skills that a rider can develop.

On of the most debilitating, bothersome and time-stealing problems in the lives of many riders is low back pain. Unfortunately most preventative and long-term measures are seldom done regularly; riders don’t want to spend time exercising, we want to ride. So we need exercises to better our ride while we prevent the bodily discomforts that plague us – solutions geared to riding.

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